Page 14 of The Wedding Deal
“You don’t really believe that.” Not a question.
Earlier he’d gotten another call from one of his mom’s prospective hopefuls, and like yesterday he’d been polite but brief. Unlike the other women, this one hadn’t gotten the hint and had rattled on and on while Lance kept pointing at the phone and Charlotte tried to bite back her laughter. It was the first time in her life she’d thought maybe she was lucky her dad only cared about her if he needed her to crunch numbers. Which was hardly fair now that he was semi-trying.
Finally, Lance had mouthed “help,” and Charlotte had stood, clomped across the office as loudly as she could, and said, “Did you forget about the meeting? Everyone’s waiting on you, and if you don’t come now, the deal’s going to fall through.”
“No, I don’t think a conversation with someone is enough to tell if you’re compatible,” she admitted. Thanks to experience, she knew hundreds of them weren’t enough. Her last boyfriend had felt like her best chance at happily ever after, but after investing all that time and effort, he’d still wanted her more for what she could do for him than wanted her for her. “Believing in love at first sight—or first listen, as the case may be—and all that other fairy tale-type stuff is just setting yourself up for failure. It’s like expecting a perfect season. Bad weather hits. People have off days. Players are injured.”
He nodded. “And I’d way rather have even a good season than a great relationship right now. It’s refreshing how much you get it.”
Refreshing wasn’t the word she’d pick, but it did sound better than jaded.
“If it’s this bad now,” Lance said, “I can’t imagine how bad it’s going to be once I get to the resort. She’ll probably schedule a date a night, and I just don’t have time for that. I don’t have time for this week-long wedding madness as it is.”
He began typing a reply, and Charlotte almost advised him to be nice but reminded herself it wasn’t any of her business, and hopefully he already knew to be nice to his mother.
He lifted the stack of papers in front of him, the one she’d sorted from most to least qualified after disregarding the completely unqualified ones they’d received. “How long does it usually take to fill a position?” he asked a couple résumés in.
“Anywhere from a week to a month.”
His disappointment and sense of urgency was palpable. “We need stability. I need this all wrapped up in a matter of a week—two at most. Which would still only give us a little over a week to get the new staff up to speed and working together by Draft Day.”
“I’ll do my best, but with you being gone, it’s going to be tricky. I’m sure you’ll be harder to reach with all the wedding festivities, and waiting for your input before I can add someone or cross them off the list is going to be super time consuming.”
“Unless…” A lightbulb dinged on over his head, and she wasn’t sure why it sent trepidation tiptoeing down her spine, but it definitely did.
“If you’re gonna suggest we go recruit coaches, GMs, or players with solid contracts in place, it’s a bad idea. There are rules and—”
“Come with me to my brother’s wedding.”
It took her a few seconds to rewind the conversation and sort through the words he’d actually said instead of the ones she’d expected. “Come again?”
He stood and circled the desk, stopping right in front of her. “You want this wrapped up as much as I do. Like you said, going back and forth over the phone is going to take extra time we don’t have. And if you come with me as my plus one, my family will leave me alone about finding a date.”
“Is this a joke? We haven’t known each other long, and you don’t strike me as a joking type of guy, but…if this is your attempt at a joke, I’ve gotta say you’re not very good at them.”
He pointed a finger at her, and she jerked, her head hitting the extra tall back of the chair. “That’sthe kind of brutal honesty I need. I also need the thing you did earlier, where you bailed me out of that conversation with the woman my mother told to call me.”
“But won’t the ref—or your mother in this instance—flag me for interference?”
He cracked a smile. “I can risk one penalty easier than I can risk hours and hours of my time being sucked away.” His smile widened, and he reached out and nudged her knee. “See? When I make a joke, you can tell.”
“Are you saying that was one?” she quipped, and he pressed his lips into a contemptuous line. It probably said something about her tired mental state that it caused an intoxicating zing instead of a surge of annoyance.
“Charlotte. I’m sincerely asking you to come with me. I’ll even add a please if that’s what it takes.”
Professional lines are about to be blurred—abort, abort, abort.She put a hand to her chest. “I can’t be your date for your brother’s wedding, Mr. Quaid.”
He made a face like he’d bit into a sour lemon. “Mr. Quaid?”
She stood, her heart beating too fast. She wanted to say she wasn’t tempted, but she knew it was a bad idea, and more than that there were rules. Rules she’d stick to, even if he accused her of being a robot again. “Section three, under the seventh subheading about employee relations, ‘while this policy does not prevent friendships or romantic relationships between coworkers, it does establish boundaries as to how relationships are conducted within the working environment.’”
“There you have it—it’s fine.”
“I’m not finished,” she said, and she remained undeterred when he muttered “Of course you’re not.” “Individuals in managerial roles—AKA, me—and those with authority over others’ terms and conditions of employment—AKA, you—are subject to more stringent requirements and are not to date their direct reports.”
“Right, but I’m not asking for you to jump into a romantic relationship with me. I’m not even asking you on an official date. I’m asking you to attend a wedding with me so that we can get more work done.”
Of course he wasn’t asking her on a date—she’d never thought that, although he didn’t have to make the idea sound so preposterous, especially since she didn’t want to go out with him, either. There was something about the words “attending a wedding” that struck fear in her, though.
